Strap on your computer, wearable tech taking off SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The digital domain is creeping off our desktops and onto our bodies, from music players that match your tunes to your heart beat, to mood sweaters that change color depending on your emotional state — blue for calm, red for angry. There are vacuum shoes that clean the floor while you walk and fitness bracelets, anklets and necklaces to track your calorie burning. “Everyone agrees the race is just beginning, and I think we’...

Some young migrants in Laredo protest released MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — Eight of the 34 young migrants who presented themselves to immigration officials at the U.S.-Mexico border without legal documents have been released from U.S. custody, a lawyer said Tuesday. The others remained in detention, but U.S. authorities haven’t said where, immigration attorney David Bennion said. Nearly all of the group who marched across one of Laredo’s international bridges Monday in colorful graduation gowns ...

Sept. US sales falter, but automakers see rebound DETROIT (AP) — Automakers expect little impact from the federal government shutdown, and they predict a fourth-quarter rebound after a rare sales decline in September. Auto sales dropped 4 percent from a year ago to just over 1.1 million, mainly due to a calendar quirk that pulled Labor Day weekend transactions into August’s numbers. The drop ended a 27-month streak of gains for the industry. General Motors, Honda and Volkswagen reported doubl...

Your fault! No shutdown end; Dems, GOP trade blame WASHINGTON (AP) — First slowed, then stalled by political gridlock, the vast machinery of government clanged into partial shutdown mode on Tuesday and President Barack Obama warned the longer it goes “the more families will be hurt.” Republicans said it was his fault, not theirs, and embarked on a strategy — opposed by Democrats — of voting on bills to reopen individual agencies or programs. Ominously, there were suggestions from leaders in bo...

Ohio capital city fights rat problems with fliers COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Without money to bring back its rat-control program, the health department for Ohio’s capital city plans to map complaints and spread fliers educating residents about dealing with the rodents. The Columbus Dispatch reported the city’s service line has received over 200 rat complaints involving rental properties this year, almost reaching the total for last year. In August, Columbus also started logging complaints from non...

Americans anxious, irritated as gov't shuts downThe partial government shutdown that began Tuesday left many federal workers uncertain of their financial future, with many facing unpaid furloughs or delays in paychecks. Park ranger and father-to-be Darquez Smith said he already lives paycheck to paycheck while putting himself through college and worried how he'll fare if the shutdown lasts a long time. "I've got a lot on my plate right now — tuition, my daughter, bills," said Smith, 23, a r...

What's changing, what's not, in a shutdownCampers in national parks are to pull up stakes and leave, some veterans waiting to have disability benefits approved will have to cool their heels even longer, many routine food inspections will be suspended and panda-cams will go dark at the shuttered National Zoo. Those are among the immediate effects if parts of the government shut Tuesday because of the budget impasse in Congress. In this time of argument and political gridlock, a bluepri...

Under fire, 'Obamacare' going live _ with glitchesContentious from its conception, President Barack Obama's health care law has survived the Supreme Court, a battle for the White House and rounds of budget brinkmanship. Now comes the ultimate test: the verdict of the American people. A government shutdown could dampen the rollout Tuesday as insurance markets open around the country. But it won't stop the main components of "Obamacare" from going live as scheduled, glitches and all. The bigges...

Blame game rife as Dems, GOP try to avert shutdownRepublicans and Democrats blamed each other Monday as they took the federal government to the brink of a shutdown in an intractable budget dispute over President Barack Obama's signature health care law. House Republicans excoriated Senate Democrats for taking the weekend off and resisting a House measure that would avert a shutdown, though with conditions: delaying further implementation of the health care law for a year and eliminating a tax...

Who'll blink? Dems, GOP in shutdown stare downWith the government teetering on the brink of partial shutdown, congressional Republicans vowed Sunday to keep using an otherwise routine federal funding bill to try to attack the president's health care law. Congress was closed for the day after a post-midnight vote in the GOP-run House to delay by a year key parts of the new health care law and repeal a tax on medical devices, in exchange for avoiding a shutdown. The Senate was to convene Mo...

Gas prices fall as weather, output calm markets NEW YORK (AP) — Gasoline prices have fallen steadily throughout September, and drivers should look forward to even cheaper fill-ups in the weeks ahead. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is now $3.42, down from $3.59 on Sept. 1. The price is the lowest it’s been at this time of year since 2010 and is likely to keep falling. “It’s a layup for me to predict lower prices until Columbus Day weekend,” says Tom Kloza, Chief Oil Anal...

McDonald’s to offer salad, fruit as side NEW YORK (AP) — Want a side salad with that Big Mac? McDonald’s says it will start giving customers the choice of a salad, fruit or vegetable as a substitute for french fries in its value meals. McDonald’s Corp. will roll out the change early next year in the U.S., where people will be able to pick a salad instead of fries at no extra cost. McDonald’s says it already lets customers make such swaps in some countries, such as France. But now it ...

NY school team calls it quits after football death BROCTON, N.Y. (AP) — It was a question with no right answer that tugged heavy at the hearts of Damon Janes’ teammates when the 16-year-old died after a hit in a high school football game: Should the season go on? Should the players rally and play every game for their star running back, whose motto was “Giving up is simply not an option”? Or should the teenagers forget about football and take time to mourn their friend? The Westfield-Brocton Wo...

Bud Selig says he will retire in January 2015 NEW YORK (AP) — Bud Selig took over a sport with $1.7 billion in revenue, four teams in each year’s postseason, economic disparity among the clubs and a fixation on sticking with traditions that dated to the 19th century. After a decade of maintaining his departure was imminent, the 79-year-old baseball commissioner put his exit plans in writing Thursday and said in a statement he will retire in January 2015 after 22 years — the second-longest...

Effort to target sex ads hits surprising obstacle JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Top law enforcement officers across the country are pushing Congress for greater authority to go after a booming online industry that hosts ads for child sex traffickers. But they are encountering opposition from an unexpected source — conservative state lawmakers who fear a government clamp down on Internet businesses. The conflict highlights the difficulty of policing an online marketplace that has rapidly evolved ...

Clinton pushes effort to protect African elephants NEW YORK (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined plans Thursday for an $80 million effort to curb the poaching and trafficking of elephants in Africa, warning that the continent’s elephants could face extinction without swift action. The former secretary of state and her daughter, Chelsea, announced the three-year project at the Clinton Global Initiative, telling activists and supporters that the killing of elephants to support the sale of ivor...

Colorado farmers arrested in fatal listeria outbreak DENVER (AP) — The owners of a Colorado cantaloupe farm were arrested Thursday on charges stemming from a 2011 listeria epidemic that killed 33 people in one of the nation’s deadliest outbreaks of foodborne illness. Federal prosecutors said brothers Eric and Ryan Jensen were arrested on misdemeanor charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. Each man faces six counts. They pleaded not guilty in federal court and were relea...

Farmers face labor shortages in the fields FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — With the harvest in full swing on the West Coast, farmers in California and other states say they can’t find enough people to pick high value crops such as grapes, peppers, apples and pears. In some cases, workers have walked off fields in the middle of harvest, lured by offers of better pay or easier work elsewhere. The shortage and competition for workers means labor expenses have climbed, harvests are getting delayed a...

Obama mocks GOP for ’crazy’ Obamacare predictions LARGO, Maryland (AP) — With just five days to go before Americans can begin signing up for health care under his signature law, President Barack Obama on Thursday ridiculed Republican opponents for “crazy” doomsday predictions of the impact and forecast that even those who didn’t vote for him are going to enroll. With polls showing many Americans still skeptical of the law known as “Obamacare,” the president went back to the basics of explaini...

Ex-Montana teacher freed after 30-day term for rape BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A former Montana high school teacher registered as a sex offender and checked in with his probation officer during his first day of freedom after completing a 30-day sentence for raping a 14-year-old girl. Stacey Rambold, 54, was picked up at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge by a family member Thursday, even as the state Supreme Court reviewed the sentence and critics called for the removal of the judge who handled...